Politics
Showing 1–32 of 108 results
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How They See Us
The World Looks at America in the Age of Trump$19.99 – $49.00From the celebrated magazine of writing from around the world, twelve sharp global perspectives on a changing United States, edited by a winner of the European Press Prize
The 2024 U.S. presidential election reverberated internationally, a global event whose outcome has already reshaped trade, migration, security, and rising authoritarianism across the world. Inside the United States, we are swamped by a news cycle; but how does the wider world see and interpret what is happening under Trump?
In How They See Us, twelve of some of the most talented and insightful journalists from around the world probe their home countries’ complex relationship with the United States—and especially, how this has swerved under the new administration. A diverse, international cast of writers examines:
- how Turkey’s recent history helps us understand America’s slide into autocracy
- how Argentina’s century-long obsession with the dollar has changed under Trump
- the new wave of anti-American tourism activism in Italy
- what Elon Musk gets wrong about South Africa
- how Taiwan is navigating the uncertainty of Trump’s response in the event of a Chinese invasion
- the newly fraught view of the U.S. among Canadians
Featuring all new pieces commissioned by The Dial, the celebrated magazine of culture, politics, and ideas from around the world, How They See Us both shifts and expands our frame of reference, our self-awareness, and our understanding of how much our world has changed since the fateful election of 2024.
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Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?
Playing Offense in the Fight for Racial Justice in America$28.99From the bestselling author of Brown Is the New White, an explosive new argument for draining the swamp of white male privilege
We are witnessing an attack on equal rights in America unparalleled since the collapse of Reconstruction. In the tradition of his New York Times and Washington Post bestseller Brown Is the New White and his “spirited and persuasive” (Publishers Weekly) How We Win the Civil War, Steve Phillips’s goal is nothing less than to exhort people to go on the offensive in the fight for racial justice in this country—to flip the script from the underrepresentation of people of color to the overrepresentation of white men.
In twelve short, animated chapters covering the fields of business, arts and entertainment, government, higher education, philanthropy, and democracy itself, Phillips shows how Straight White American Male Preference (or S.W.A.M.P.) has come roaring out of the shadows once again. Far from being a country where white men have suffered under so-called reverse racism, Phillips reveals America to be a place where white men—a minority population—have enjoyed unfair legal advantages, racial quotas, grade inflation, and jumping the line for public benefits.
Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else? calls for nothing less than draining the swamp of white male privilege. Fearless, funny, and deeply researched, this much-needed corrective offers equality-loving readers the arguments and energy they need to launch a new counterattack.
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Defending My Enemy
Skokie and the Legacy of Free Speech in America$17.99 – $49.00With a foreword by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and an afterword by Nadine Strossen
A new edition of the most important free speech book of the past half-century, with a new essay by the author on some of the top First Amendment controversies of today “If Aryeh Neier had done nothing else in his absolutely towering human rights, civil liberties career other than write Defending My Enemy, that still would have made him a hero and a giant.” —Nadine Strossen, former president, American Civil Liberties UnionWhen Nazis wanted to express their right to free speech in 1977 by marching through Skokie, Illinois—a town with a large population of Holocaust survivors—Aryeh Neier, then the national director of the ACLU and himself a Holocaust survivor, came to the Nazis’ defense. Explaining what many saw as a despicable bridge too far for the First Amendment, Neier spelled out his thoughts about free speech in his 1979 book Defending My Enemy.
Nearly fifty years later, Neier revisits the topic of free speech in a volume that includes his original essay along with a new piece addressing present-day First Amendment battles, including the Charlottesville march, book bans, the heckler’s veto, attacks on free speech on college campuses, and the threat to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision in The New York Times v. Sullivan.
Including a foreword by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and an afterword by longtime free speech champion Nadine Strossen, Defending My Enemy offers razor-sharp analysis from the man Muck Rack describes as having “a glittering civil liberties résumé.”
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Red Pill Politics
Demystifying Today’s Far Right$29.99A smart and accessible dissection of twenty-first-century fascist politics, providing general readers with the tools to understand, and defeat, today’s resurgent far right
Around the globe, far-right political parties and movements are on the march, winning popular support, legislative seats, and presidencies—and stoking widespread fears of the revival of fascism. What to make of this terrifying drift?
In this timely, deeply researched, and deftly argued examination of far-right politics today, the political scientist David Ost shows that to grasp the very real threat of resurgent fascism, we must look beyond the extreme examples of Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy lest we miss the growing strength—and the distinctly populist appeal—of today’s far right. Instead, drawing on a wide range of compelling contemporary and historical examples, Ost shows that we must understand the current global movement as part of a new political category, which he calls “Red Pill Politics” in reference to the right-wing meme which purports to peel back the facade of liberal hegemony. While Red Pill Politics exhibits many features of classical fascism—racial exclusion, xenophobic fearmongering, enforcement of rigid gender roles—contemporary far-right parties have won power not through violence and mass repression, but through anti-elite, populist rhetoric and elections.
For readers of Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works, Red Pill Politics draws on meticulous historical research and analysis of contemporary far-right politics to help us understand and fight one of today’s most pressing political threats.
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Losing Reality
On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry$17.99 – $23.99A “fresh perspective” (Kirkus Reviews) on the psychology of zealotry, from a National Book Award winner and a leading authority on the nature of cults, political absolutism, and mind control
In this unique and important volume Robert Jay Lifton, the National Book Award–winning psychiatrist, historian, and public intellectual, proposes a radical idea: that the psychological relationship between extremist political movements and fanatical religious cults may be much closer than anyone thought. Exploring the most extreme manifestations of human zealotry, Lifton highlights an array of leaders—from Mao to Hitler to the Japanese apocalyptic cult leader Shōkō Asahara to Donald Trump—who have sought the control of human minds and the ownership of reality.
Lifton has been called “one of the world’s foremost thinkers on why we humans do such awful things to each other” (Bill Moyers) and his pioneering concept of the “Eight Deadly Sins” of ideological totalism—originally devised to identify “brainwashing” (or “thought reform”) in political movements—has been widely quoted in writings about cults and embraced by members and former members of religious cults seeking to understand their experiences.
In Losing Reality Lifton makes clear that the apocalyptic impulse—that of destroying the world in order to remake it in purified form—is not limited to religious groups but is prominent in extremist political movements such as Nazism and Chinese Communism, and also in groups surrounding Donald Trump, showing how this destructive desire ultimately reached its apotheosis in the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Lifton applies his concept of “malignant normality” to Trump’s efforts to render his destructive falsehoods a routine part of American life. But Lifton nevertheless sees the human species as capable of “regaining reality” through our “protean” psychological capacities and our ability to serve as “witnessing professionals.”
Lifton weaves together some of his finest work with extensive new commentary to provide vital understanding of our struggle with mental predators. Losing Reality is a book not only of stunning scholarship, but also of increasing relevance for these troubled times.
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The Walls Have Eyes
Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence$28.99With a foreword by E. Tendayi Achiume
A chilling exposé of the inhumane and lucrative sharpening of borders around the globe through experimental surveillance technology
Finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for NonfictionIn 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it was training “robot dogs” to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border against migrants. Four-legged machines equipped with cameras and sensors would join a network of drones and automated surveillance towers—nicknamed the “smart wall.” This is part of a worldwide trend: as more people are displaced by war, economic instability, and a warming planet, more countries are turning to AI-driven technology to “manage” the influx.
Based on years of researching borderlands across the world, lawyer and anthropologist Petra Molnar’s The Walls Have Eyes is a truly global story—a dystopian vision turned reality, where your body is your passport and matters of life and death are determined by algorithm. Examining how technology is being deployed by governments on the world’s most vulnerable with little regulation, Molnar also shows us how borders are now big business, with defense contractors and tech start-ups alike scrambling to capture this highly profitable market.
With a foreword by former UN Special Rapporteur E. Tendayi Achiume, The Walls Have Eyes reveals the profound human stakes of the sharpening of borders around the globe, foregrounding the stories of people on the move and the daring forms of resistance that have emerged against the hubris and cruelty of those seeking to use technology to turn human beings into problems to be solved.
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The Guarantee
Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy$28.99With a foreword by Angela Garbes
From the president of the Economic Security Project, a book that shows how a just future is around the corner, if we are ready to seize it
The Guarantee asks us to imagine an America where housing, health care, a college education, dignified work, family care, an inheritance, and an income floor are not only attainable by all but guaranteed, by our government, for everyone.
But isn’t this pie-in-the-sky thinking? Not by a long shot, as this provocative new book reveals. As it stands, our current economic system is chock full of government-backed guarantees, from bailouts to bankruptcy protection, to keep the private sector in business. So why can’t the same be true for the rest of us?
Author Natalie Foster, co-founder of the Economic Security Project, has had a front-row seat to the dramatic leaps forward in government guarantees over the past decade, from student debt relief to the child tax credit expansion. Her brilliantly sketched vision for a new Guarantee Framework is rooted in real life experiences, collaborations with some of today’s most important activists and visionaries, and a concrete sense of the policies that are possible—and ready to implement—in twenty-first-century America.
The Guarantee is the rare book that will shift the terms of debate, moving us from the expired and defunct assumptions of no-guardrails capitalism to a nation that works for all of its people. -
Filibustered!
How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America$27.99The U.S. Senator from Oregon who is leading the fight to restore the talking filibuster explains how changing just one rule could save our democracy
If we want to fix what ails America, we have to fix the Senate. And if we want to fix the Senate, we must fix the broken filibuster.
In a compelling and powerfully argued book, Senator Jeff Merkley and his longtime chief of staff tell the insiders’ story of how the Senate used to work and how the filibuster came to cripple the self-styled “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” with paralyzing gridlock. And they make the surprising case that restoring a modified version of the old-style, talking filibuster may just be our democracy’s path back from the brink.
For nearly two centuries, the Senate designed by the Founders served the purpose they envisioned: it was a deliberative legislative body where the nation’s thorniest challenges were hashed out. Senators had the ability to speak at length and offer any manner of amendments to influence bills, and then when all had had a say, the Senate voted. Senators who objected to passing a bill could wage a defiant filibuster—in the spirit of fictional Senator Smith who talked until he collapsed in order to block a corrupt railroad deal in the classic 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But at the end of the day, nearly all legislation, amendments, and nominations went to a vote, and the majority prevailed.
Today, however, thanks to abuse of a fifty-year-old reform intended to make it easier for the Senate to pass legislation, the exceedingly difficult, rare filibuster has morphed, plunging the Senate into dysfunction and threatening the very foundations of our democracy. Now, the minority party can simply declare a “no-talk” filibuster, insisting on a supermajority of sixty votes to pass nearly any bill or a lengthy process to confirm any of the president’s nominees—giving themselves a veto over the majority’s agenda. Wildly popular bills languish, judgeships and administrative posts remain unfilled, but ordinary citizens can’t see why because the obstruction all takes place behind closed doors.
Filibustered! combines a marvelous romp through key moments in filibuster history—from the first filibuster in 1841 through Southern Dixiecrat filibusters of civil rights legislation, up through Mitch McConnell’s transformation of the filibuster into a routine tool of perennial gridlock—with firsthand accounts of recent high-profile legislative fights, and a compelling argument that the key to the Senate’s future may be found in its past. -
States of Neglect
How Red-State Leaders Have Failed Their Citizens and Undermined America$27.99As America continues down its path of polarization, a celebrated journalist tells us the deep story of the red-state/blue-state divide
In the wake of Trump’s presidency, Republican-led states have joined in an alarming assault on our democratic system. But the drift toward authoritarianism in red states has far deeper roots. We now have a country where tens of millions of people live under regimes that have spent years starving education and health care, empowering polluters, engaging in voter suppression, and neglecting their citizens’ well-being in the interest of cutting taxes for the wealthy.
In States of Neglect, journalist William Kleinknecht surveys the landscape of neglect in states including Texas, Florida, and Arizona through the experiences of a rich cast of characters. He visits environmental dead zones in the Texas Gulf region. He investigates Arizona’s abandonment of public education and its corrupt charter school industry. He shows how Mississippi’s denuded health care system has made the Magnolia State the sickest in the nation. And he explains how North Carolina allows its people to sink into poverty while catering to the needs of corporations.
As a postscript, Kleinknecht proposes how progressive states on either coast might join in a compact of “progressive federalism” that uses their superior economic and cultural resources to counter the influence of the far right.
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The Scheme
How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court$18.99 – $27.99“A damning investigation of dark money by a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee” (Kirkus Reviews) with a new preface on recent disclosures about efforts to influence the Court
“There’s no senator I can think of who’s done more sleuthing to figure out the money trail in American politics, particularly as it affects the courts.”—Jane Mayer, author of the national bestseller Dark Money
As the story of Supreme Court malfeasance and ethics violations repeatedly makes front-page news, the paperback version of The Scheme comes at a time of crisis for the American judiciary.
Following his book Captured on corporate capture of regulatory and government agencies, and his years of experience as a prosecutor, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, whom Senator Elizabeth Warren calls a “a powerful voice in defending our American democracy against the relentless, pervasive—and often hidden—power of corporate special interests,” here turns his attention to the right-wing scheme to capture the United States Supreme Court. Whitehouse chronicles a hidden-money campaign using an armada of front groups, helped by the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, employing the Federalist Society as an appointments turnstile, and with the same small handful of right-wing billionaires and corporations enticing the Senate to break rules, norms, and precedents to confirm wildly inappropriate nominees who would advance their anti-government agenda.
Now available in an affordable paperback edition with a new preface addressing the Reverend Schenck disclosures about politicking the justices and Justice Thomas’s recently disclosed conflicts of interest, The Scheme offers what Kirkus Reviews calls “a maddening indictment of a corrupt and corrupted judiciary.” -
Demolition Agenda
The Dismantling of American Government . . . And How We Can Stop It$18.99 – $27.99A sweeping account of the first Trump administration’s systematic dismantling of the national agencies that protect our health, safety, and climate—and the progressive and equitable political future that is possible when we put people over power and greed
“The sort of book that journalists, activists, and historians may want to keep on their shelves—forever.”
—Forbes MagazineNow revised with a new preface and final chapter on what to expect from the current administration and how we can secure a thriving collective future—both socially and economically
In the wake of a return to Trump-era governance, Demolition Agenda is more urgent than ever, revealing the ministration’s destruction of our government institutions—exposing Americans to greater risks while empowering corporate interests.
Thomas O. McGarity, author, legal scholar, and former president of Center for Progressive Reform, profiles the toxic leaders and intricate strategies that the Trump administration employed to rid the government of protective policies and institutions—harming the health of a nation and accelerating climate change and economic turmoil. Including:
- Scott Pruitt’s corruption scandal at the EPA
- Elaine Chao’s weakening of transportation safety measures
- Ryan Zinke’s stint as secretary of the interior before he faced eighteen federal inquiries and was fired
- And the actions and impacts of other controversial figures such as Rick Perry, Betsy DeVos, Sonny Perdue, and Andrew Puzder
While chronicling these abuses of power that defined the first Trump administration, McGarity also provides precise clarity on what we can continue to expect from the rest of his current term, what further harm can be done, and what this means for the future of our nation.
While harrowing at times, Demolition Agenda ends hopefully, with a new chapter that provides a road map for future progressive politicians to reinstate a safe, healthy, and equitable society for all Americans—and most importantly, regain their trust.
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Going Big
FDR’s Legacy, Biden’s New Deal, and the Struggle to Save Democracy$23.99With history and the extraordinary parallels between Biden and FDR as his guide, the veteran political analyst diagnoses what’s at stake for America in 2022 and beyond
Joe Biden has found his way back to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. After four decades of diminishing prospects for ordinary people, the public likes what Biden is offering. Yet American democracy is in dire peril as Republicans, increasingly the national minority, try to destroy democracy in order to cling to power. It is the best of times and the worst of times. In Going Big, bestselling author and political journalist Robert Kuttner assesses the promise and peril of this critical juncture.
Biden, like FDR in his time, faces multiple challenges. Roosevelt had to make terrible compromises with racist legislators to win enactment of his program. Biden, to achieve the necessary governing coalition, needs to achieve durable multiracial coalitions. Roosevelt had to conquer fascism in Europe; Biden must defeat it at home. And after four decades of neoliberal policy disasters reflecting Wall Street’s political influence, Biden needs to go beyond what even FDR achieved, to restore a democratic economy of broad possibility.
From a writer with an unparalleled understanding of the history and politics that have made this moment possible, this book is the essential guide to what is at stake for Joe Biden, for America, and for our democracy.
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100% Democracy
The Case for Universal Voting$30.00A timely and paradigm-shifting argument that all members of a democracy must participate in elections, by a leading political expert and Washington Post journalist
Americans are required to pay taxes, serve on juries, get their kids vaccinated, get driver’s licenses, and sometimes go to war for their country. So why not ask—or require—every American to vote?
In 100% Democracy, E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport argue that universal participation in our elections should be a cornerstone of our system. It would be the surest way to protect against voter suppression and the active disenfranchisement of a large share of our citizens. And it would create a system true to the Declaration of Independence’s aspirations by calling for a government based on the consent of all of the governed.
It’s not as radical or utopian as it sounds: in Australia, where everyone is required to vote (Australians can vote “none of the above,” but they have to show up), 91.9 percent of Australians voted in the last major election in 2019, versus 60.1 percent in America’s 2016 presidential race. Australia hosts voting-day parties and actively celebrates this key civic duty.
It is time for the United States to take a major leap forward and recognize voting as both a fundamental civil right and a solemn civic duty required of every eligible U.S. citizen.
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Prosecution of an Insurrection
The Complete Trial Transcript of the Second Impeachment of Donald Trump$17.99The complete riveting transcript of the historic case against the president for igniting the January 6 siege of the Capitol
Prosecution of an Insurrection is the complete, riveting transcript of the historic case against President Donald J. Trump for igniting the January 6 siege of the Capitol. Following the norm-shattering attempt by his followers to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, the second impeachment trial of the president seared a new lexicon into our collective consciousness and marked a watershed moment in American history. The case, presented to the Senate by impeachment managers from the House, marked a bravura performance by members of Congress who were themselves the targets of the rioters incited by the president only days earlier.
Citizens disturbed by the events of January 2021 and Republican attempts to rewrite history will find in these pages the most authoritative record of one of our democracy’s darkest hours, including:
• The official articles of impeachment against the president for incitement of an insurrection
• The response of President Trump to the articles of impeachment, on behalf of the House defense lawyers
• The complete trial transcript, including the full text of the arguments made by the House representatives and the full text of the president’s defense
• Headshots from the trial of all nine House impeachment managers in action, including lead manager Representative Jamie Raskin, as well as all three House defense lawyers
• Photographs, timelines, and screenshots of tweets entered as evidence, as well as stills from the videos presented
Prosecution of an Insurrection preserves for posterity an episode that ranks with the McCarthy hearings, Watergate, and the Iran-Contra investigation for its importance in American political history.
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Race, Rights, and Redemption
The Derrick Bell Lectures on the Law and Critical Race Theory$22.99Leading legal lights weigh in on key issues of race and the law—collected in honor of one of the originators of critical race theory
“Penetrating essays on race and social stratification within policing and the law, in honor of pioneering scholar Derrick Bell.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
When Derrick Bell, one of the originators of critical race theory, turned sixty-five, his wife founded a lecture series with leading scholars, including critical race theorists, many of them Bell’s former students. Now these lectures, given over the course of twenty-five years, are collected for the first time in a volume Library Journal calls “potent” and Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, says “powerfully acknowledge[s] the persistence of structural racism.”
“To what extent does equal protection protect?” asks Ian Haney López in a penetrating analysis of the gaps that remain in our civil rights legal codes. Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, describes the hypersegregation of our cities and the limits of the law’s ability to change deep-seated attitudes about race. Patricia J. Williams explores the legacy of slavery in the law’s current constructions of sanity. Anita Allen discusses competing privacy and accountability interests in the lives of African American celebrities. Chuck Lawrence interrogates the judicial backlash against affirmative action. And Michelle Alexander describes what caused her to break ranks with the civil rights community and take up the cause of those our legal system has labeled unworthy.
Race, Rights, and Redemption (which was originally published in hardcover under the title Carving Out a Humanity) gathers some of our country’s brightest progressive legal stars in a volume that illuminates facets of the law that have continued to perpetuate racial inequality and to confound our nation at the start of a new millennium.
With contributions by:
Michelle Alexander
Anita Allen
Derrick Bell
Stephen Bright
Paul Butler
John Calmore
Devon W. Carbado
William Carter Jr.
Emma Coleman Jordan
Richard Delgado
Annette Gordon-Reed
Jasmine Gonzales Rose
Lani Guinier
Cheryl I. Harris
Ian Haney López
Sherrilyn Ifill
Charles Lawrence
Kenneth W. Mack
Mari Matsuda
Charles Ogletree
Angela Onwuachi-Willig
Theodore M. Shaw
Kendall Thomas
Patricia J. Williams
Robert A. Williams
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Except for Palestine
The Limits of Progressive Politics$17.99 – $25.99A bold call for the American Left to extend their politics to the issues of Israel-Palestine
In this major work of daring criticism and analysis, scholar and political commentator Marc Lamont Hill and Israel-Palestine expert Mitchell Plitnick spotlight how one-sided pro-Israel policies reflect the truth-bending grip of authoritarianism on both Israel and the United States. Except for Palestine argues that progressives and liberals who oppose regressive policies on immigration, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and other issues must extend these core principles to the oppression of Palestinians. In doing so, the authors take seriously the political concerns and well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians, demonstrating the extent to which U.S. policy has made peace harder to attain. They also unravel the conflation of advocacy for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel.
Hill and Plitnick provide a timely and essential intervention by examining multiple dimensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conversation, including Israel’s growing disdain for democracy, the effects of occupation on Palestine, the siege of Gaza, diminishing American funding for Palestinian relief, and the campaign to stigmatize any critique of Israeli occupation. Except for Palestine is a searing polemic and a cri de coeur for elected officials, activists, and everyday citizens alike to align their beliefs and politics with their values.
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I Ain’t Marching Anymore
Dissenters, Deserters, and Objectors to America’s Wars$27.99A sweeping history of the passionate men and women in uniform who have bravely and courageously exercised the power of dissent
Before the U.S. Constitution had even been signed, soldiers and new veterans protested. Dissent, the hallowed expression of disagreement and refusal to comply with the government’s wishes, has a long history in the United States. Soldier dissenters, outraged by the country’s wars or egregious violations in conduct, speak out and change U.S. politics, social welfare systems, and histories.
I Ain’t Marching Anymore carefully traces soldier dissent from the early days of the republic through the wars that followed, including the genocidal “Indian Wars,” the Civil War, long battles against slavery and racism that continue today, both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, and contemporary military imbroglios.
Acclaimed journalist Chris Lombardi presents a soaring history valorizing the brave men and women who spoke up, spoke out, and talked back to national power. Inviting readers to understand the texture of dissent and its evolving and ongoing meaning, I Ain’t Marching Anymore profiles conscientious objectors including Frederick Douglass’s son Lewis, Evan Thomas, Howard Zinn, William Kunstler, and Chelsea Manning, adding human dimensions to debates about war and peace.
Meticulously researched, rich in characters, and vivid in storytelling, I Ain’t Marching Anymore celebrates the sweeping spirit of dissent in the American tradition and invigorates its meaning for new risk-taking dissenters.
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Empire of Resentment
Populism’s Toxic Embrace of Nationalism$27.99From a leading scholar on conservatism, the extraordinary chronicle of how the transformation of the American far right made the Trump presidency possible—and what it portends for the future
Since Trump’s victory and the UK’s Brexit vote, much of the commentary on the populist epidemic has focused on the emergence of populism. But, Lawrence Rosenthal argues, what is happening globally is not the emergence but the transformation of right-wing populism.
Rosenthal, the founder of UC Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies, suggests right-wing populism is a protean force whose prime mover is the resentment felt toward perceived cultural elites, and whose abiding feature is its ideological flexibility, which now takes the form of xenophobic nationalism. In 2016, American right-wing populists migrated from the free marketeering Tea Party to Donald Trump’s “hard hat,” anti-immigrant, America-First nationalism. This was the most important single factor in Trump’s electoral victory and it has been at work across the globe. In Italy, for example, the Northern League reinvented itself in 2018 as an all-Italy party, switching its fury from southerners to immigrants, and came to power.
Rosenthal paints a vivid sociological, political, and psychological picture of the transnational quality of this movement, which is now in power in at least a dozen countries, creating a de facto Nationalist International. In America and abroad, the current mobilization of right-wing populism has given life to long marginalized threats like white supremacy. The future of democratic politics in the United States and abroad depends on whether the liberal and left parties have the political capacity to mobilize with a progressive agenda of their own.
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Democracy, If We Can Keep It
The ACLU’s 100-Year Fight for Rights in America$29.99Published to coincide with the ACLU’s centennial, a major new book by the nationally celebrated journalist and bestselling author
For a century, the American Civil Liberties Union has fought to keep Americans in touch with the founding values of the Constitution. As its centennial approached, the organization invited Ellis Cose to become its first ever writer-in-residence, with complete editorial independence.
The result is Cose’s groundbreaking Democracy, If We Can Keep It: The ACLU’s 100-Year Fight for Rights in America, the most authoritative account ever of America’s premier defender of civil liberties. A vivid work of history and journalism, Democracy, If We Can Keep It is not just the definitive story of the ACLU but also an essential account of America’s rediscovery of rights it had granted but long denied. Cose’s narrative begins with World War I and brings us to today, chronicling the ACLU’s role through the horrors of 9/11, the saga of Edward Snowden, and the phenomenon of Donald Trump.
A chronicle of America’s most difficult ethical quandaries from the Red Scare, the Scottsboro Boys’ trials, Japanese American internment, McCarthyism, and Vietnam, Democracy, If We Can Keep It weaves these accounts into a deeper story of American freedom—one that is profoundly relevant to our present moment.
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Use the Power You Have
A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change$27.99Washington’s progressive champion explains how we can achieve a truly inclusive America that works for all of us
In November 2016, Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the first Indian American woman to serve in that role. Two years later, the “fast-rising Democratic star and determined critic of President Donald Trump,” according to Politico‘s Playbook 2017 “Power List,” won reelection with more votes than any other member of the House. Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, proved her progressive bonafides when she introduced the most comprehensive Medicare-for-all bill to Congress in February.
Behind the story of Jayapal’s rise to political prominence lie over two decades of devoted advocacy on behalf of immigrants and progressive causes—and years of learning how to turn activism into public policy that serves all Americans. Use the Power You Have is Jayapal’s account of the path from sixteen-year-old Indian immigrant to grassroots activist, state senator, and now progressive powerhouse in Washington, DC.
Written with passion and insight, Use the Power You Have offers a wealth of ideas and inspiration for a new generation of engaged citizens interested in fighting back and making change, whether in Washington or in their own communities.
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In a Day’s Work
The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers$17.99 – $25.99“A timely, intensely intimate, and relevant exposé.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The Pulitzer Prize finalist’s powerful examination of the hidden stories of workers overlooked by #MeToo
Apple orchards in bucolic Washington State. Office parks in Southern California under cover of night. The home of an elderly man in Miami. These are some of the workplaces where women have suffered brutal sexual assaults and shocking harassment at the hands of their employers, often with little or no official recourse. In this heartrending but ultimately inspiring tale, investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Bernice Yeung exposes the epidemic of sexual violence levied against the low-wage workers largely overlooked by #MeToo, and charts their quest for justice.
In a Day’s Work reveals the underbelly of hidden economies teeming with employers who are in the practice of taking advantage of immigrant women. But it also tells a timely story of resistance, introducing a group of courageous allies who challenge the status quo of violations alongside aggrieved workers—and win.
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Democracy Unchained
How to Rebuild Government for the People$19.99A stellar group of America’s leading political thinkers explore how to reboot our democracy
The presidential election of 2016 highlighted some long-standing flaws in American democracy and added a few new ones. Across the political spectrum, most Americans do not believe that democracy is delivering on its promises of fairness, justice, shared prosperity, or security in a changing world. The nation cannot even begin to address climate change and economic justice if it remains paralyzed by political gridlock.
Democracy Unchained is about making American democracy work to solve problems that have long impaired our system of governance. The book is the collective work of thirty of the most perceptive writers, practitioners, scientists, educators, and journalists writing today, who are committed to moving the political conversation from the present anger and angst to the positive and constructive change necessary to achieve the full promise of a durable democracy that works for everyone and protects our common future. Including essays by Yasha Mounk on populism, Chisun Lee on money and politics, Ras Baraka on building democracy from the ground up, and Bill McKibben on climate, Democracy Unchained is the articulation of faith in democracy and will be required reading for all who are working to make democracy a reality.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
David W. Orr
Part I. The Crisis of Democracy
Populism and Democracy
Yascha Mounk
Reconstructing Our Constitutional Democracy
K. Sabeel Rahman
Restoring Healthy Party Competition
Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson
When Democracy Becomes Something Else: The Problem of Elections and What to Do About It
Andrew Gumbel
The Best Answer to Money in Politics After Citizens United: Public Campaign Financing in the Empire State and Beyond
Chisun Lee
Remaking the Presidency After Trump
Jeremi Suri
The Problem of Presidentialism
Stephen Skowronek
Part II. Foundations of Democracy
Renewing the American Democratic Faith
Steven C. Rockefeller
American Land, American Democracy
Eric Freyfogle
Race and Democracy: The Kennedys, Obama, Trump, and Us
Michael Eric Dyson
Liberty and Justice for All: Latina Activist Efforts to Strengthen Democracy in 2018
Maria Hinojosa
What Black Women Teach Us About Democracy
Andra Gillespie and Nadia E. Brown
Engines of Democracy: Racial Justice and Cultural Power
Rashad Robinson
Civic and Environmental Education: Protecting the Planet and Our Democracy
Judy Braus
The Supreme Court’s Legitimacy Crisis and Constitutional Democracy’s Future
Dawn Johnsen
Part III. Policy Challenges
Can Democracy Survive the Internet?
David Hickton
The New New Deal: How to Reregulate Capitalism
Robert Kuttner
First Understand Why They’re Winning: How to Save Democracy from the Anti-Immigrant
Far Right
Sasha Polakow-Suransky
No Time Left: How the System Is Failing to Address Our Ultimate Crisis
Bill McKibben
Powering Democracy Through Clean Energy
Denise G. Fairchild
The Long Crisis: American Foreign Policy Before and After Trump
Jessica Tuchman Mathews
Part IV. Who Acts, and How?
The Case for Strong Government
William S. Becker
The States
Nick Rathod
Democracy in a Struggling Swing State
Amy Hanauer
Can Independent Voters Save American Democracy? Why 42 Percent of American Voters Are Independent and How They Can Transform Our Political System
Jaqueline Salit and Thom Reilly
Philanthropy and Democracy
Stephen B. Heintz
Keeping the Republic
Dan Moulthrop
The Future of Democracy
Mayor Ras Baraka
Building a University Where All People Matter
Michael M. Crow, William B. Dabars, and Derrick M. Anderson
Biophilia and Direct Democracy
Timothy Beatley
Purpose-Driven Capitalism
Mindy Lubber
Restoring Democracy: Nature’s Trust, Human Survival, and Constitutional Fiduciary Governance 397
Mary Christina Wood
Conclusion
Ganesh Sitaraman
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We Own the Future
Democratic Socialism—American Style$17.99A stunningly original and timely collection that makes the case for “socialism, American style”
It’s a strange day when a New York Times conservative columnist is forced to admit that the left is winning, but as David Brooks wrote recently, “the American left is on the cusp of a great victory.” Among Americans under thirty, 43 percent had a favorable view of socialism, while only 32 percent had a favorable view of capitalism. Not since the Great Depression have so many Americans questioned the fundamental tenets of capitalism and expressed openness to a socialist alternative.
We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism—American Style offers a road map to making this alternative a reality, giving readers a practical vision of a future that is more democratic, egalitarian, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable. The book includes a crash course in the history and practice of democratic socialism, a vivid picture of what democratic socialism in America might look like in practice, and compelling proposals for how to get there from the age of Trump and beyond.
With contributions from some of the nation’s leading political activists and analysts, We Own the Future articulates a clear and uncompromising view from the left—a perfectly timed book that will appeal to a wide audience hungry for change.
Table of Contents
Part I: Is a New America Possible?
Introduction
Kate Aronoff, Peter Dreier, and Michael KazinHow Socialists Changed America
Peter Dreier and Michael KazinToward a Third Reconstruction
Andrea Flynn, Susan Holmberg, Dorian Warren, and Felicia WongA Three-Legged Stool for Racial and Economic Justice
Darrick HamiltonDemocratic Socialism for a Climate-Changed Century
Naomi KleinPart II: Expanding Democracy
Governing Socialism
Bill Fletcher Jr.We the People: Voting Rights, Campaign Finance, and Election Reform
J. Mijin ChaConfronting Corporate Power
Robert KuttnerBuilding the People’s Banks
David DayenDemocracy, Equality, and the Future of Workers
Sarita Gupta, Stephen Lerner, and Joseph A. McCartinWho Gets to Be Safe? Prisons, Police, and Terror
Aviva StahlOn Immigration: A Socialist Case for Open Borders
Michelle ChenOn Foreign Policy: War from Above, Solidarity from Below
Tejasvi NagarajaPart III: The Right to a Good Life
Livable Cities
Thomas J. SugrueWhat Does Health Equity Require? Racism and the Limits of Medicare for All
Dorothy RobertsThe Family of the Future
Sarah LeonardDefending and Improving Public Education
Pedro NogueraReclaiming Competition: Sports and Socialism
David ZirinWhat About a Well-Fed Artist? Imagining Cultural Work in a Democratic Socialist Society
Francesca FiorentiniHow Socialism Surged, and How It Can Go Further
Harold MeyersonAfterword: A Day in the Life of a Socialist Citizen
Michael Walzer -
Merge Left
Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America$26.99 – $30.00From the acclaimed author of Dog Whistle Politics, an essential road map to neutralizing the role of racism as a divide-and-conquer political weapon and to building a broad multiracial progressive future
“Ian Haney López has broken the code on the racial politics of the last fifty years.”—Bill Moyers
In 2014, Ian Haney López in Dog Whistle Politics named and explained the coded racial appeals exploited by right-wing politicians over the last half century—and thereby anticipated the 2016 presidential election. Now the country is heading into what will surely be one of the most consequential elections ever, with the Right gearing up to exploit racial fear-mongering to divide and distract, and the Left splintered over the next step forward. Some want to focus on racial justice head-on; others insist that a race-silent focus on class avoids alienating white voters.
Can either approach—race-forward or colorblind—build the progressive supermajorities necessary to break political gridlock and fundamentally change the country’s direction?
For the past two years, Haney López has been collaborating with a research team of union activists, racial justice leaders, communications specialists, and pollsters. Based on conversations, interviews, and surveys with thousands of people all over the country, the team found a way forward.
By merging the fights for racial justice and for shared economic prosperity, they were able to build greater enthusiasm for both goals—and for the cross-racial solidarity needed to win elections. What does this mean? It means that neutralizing the Right’s political strategy of racial division is possible, today. And that’s the key to everything progressives want to achieve.
A work of deep research, nuanced argument, and urgent insight, Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America is an indispensable tool for the upcoming political season and in the larger fight to build racial justice and shared economic prosperity for all of us.
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State of Resistance
What California’s Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Mean for America’s Future$18.99 – $26.99A leading sociologist’s brilliant, revelatory argument that the future of politics, work, immigration, and more can be found in California
Lauded by James Fallows on the front page of the New York Times Book Review as “concise, clear, and convincing” upon its hardcover publication, State of Resistance makes the case for honestly engaging racial anxiety in order to address our true economic and generational challenges, renewing our commitment to public investments, cultivating social movements and community organizing, and more.
Once upon a time, any mention of California triggered unpleasant reminders
of Ronald Reagan and right-wing tax revolts, ballot propositions targeting undocumented immigrants, and racist policing that sparked two of the nation’s most devastating riots. In fact, California confronted many of the challenges the country faces now—decades before the rest of us.
As white residents became a minority and job loss drove economic uncertainty, California had its own Trump moment twenty-five years ago but has become increasingly blue over each of the last seven presidential elections. Today, California is leading the way on addressing climate change, low-wage work, immigrant integration, overincarceration, and more. Pastor expertly reveals how the Golden State did it.
And as Neera Tandeen, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, said, “State of Resistance paints a brilliant picture of how our generation can seize the opportunity to forge a more inclusive, just, and prosperous America for every family.”
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Not a Crime to Be Poor
The Criminalization of Poverty in America$17.99 – $26.95Awarded “Special Recognition” by the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Book & Journalism AwardsFinalist for the American Bar Association’s 2018 Silver Gavel Book Award
Named one of the “10 books to read after you’ve read Evicted” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Essential reading for anyone trying to understand the demands of social justice in America.”—Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy
Winner of a special Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, the book that Evicted author Matthew Desmond calls “a powerful investigation into the ways the United States has addressed poverty . . . lucid and troubling”
In one of the richest countries on Earth it has effectively become a crime to be poor. For example, in Ferguson, Missouri, the U.S. Department of Justice didn’t just expose racially biased policing; it also exposed exorbitant fines and fees for minor crimes that mainly hit the city’s poor, African American population, resulting in jail by the thousands. As Peter Edelman explains in Not a Crime to Be Poor, in fact Ferguson is everywhere: the debtors’ prisons of the twenty-first century. The anti-tax revolution that began with the Reagan era led state and local governments, starved for revenues, to squeeze ordinary people, collect fines and fees to the tune of 10 million people who now owe $50 billion.
Nor is the criminalization of poverty confined to money. Schoolchildren are sent to court for playground skirmishes that previously sent them to the principal’s office. Women are evicted from their homes for calling the police too often to ask for protection from domestic violence. The homeless are arrested for sleeping in the park or urinating in public.
A former aide to Robert F. Kennedy and senior official in the Clinton administration, Peter Edelman has devoted his life to understanding the causes of poverty. As Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy has said, “No one has been more committed to struggles against impoverishment and its cruel consequences than Peter Edelman.” And former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert writes, “If there is one essential book on the great tragedy of poverty and inequality in America, this is it.”
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Night in the American Village
Women in the Shadow of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa$24.99 – $37.00“A lively encounter with identity and American military history in Okinawa. Night in the American Village is by turns intellectual, hip, and sexy. I admire it for its ferocity, style, and vigor. A wonderful book.”
—Anthony Swofford, author of JarheadA beautifully written examination of the complex relationship between the women living near the U.S. bases in Okinawa and the servicemen who are stationed there
At the southern end of the Japanese archipelago lies Okinawa, host to a vast complex of U.S. military bases. A legacy of World War II, these bases have been a fraught issue in Japan for decades—with tensions exacerbated by the often volatile relationship between islanders and the military, especially after the brutal rape of a twelve-year-old girl by three servicemen in the 1990s.
But the situation is more complex than it seems. In Night in the American Village, journalist Akemi Johnson takes readers deep into the “border towns” surrounding the bases—a world where cultural and political fault lines compel individuals, both Japanese and American, to continually renegotiate their own identities. Focusing on the women there, she follows the complex fallout of the murder of an Okinawan woman by an ex–U.S. serviceman in 2016 and speaks to protesters, to women who date and marry American men and groups that help them when problems arise, and to Okinawans whose family members survived World War II.
Thought-provoking and timely, Night in the American Village is a vivid look at the enduring wounds of U.S.-Japanese history and the cultural and sexual politics of the American military empire.
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The Rise of the New Religious Right
$24.95The Gospel According to Sarah is a fascinating new look at a little understood but crucial side of Sarah Palin: her Pentecostal roots. Anthea Butler’s perfectly timed analysis trains the keen eye of a noted religion scholar on religious and political currents that have been widely caricatured but, until now, poorly understood and rarely discussed.
Butler shows that Palin’s widely publicized fumbles and verbal gaffes are irrelevant to her committed core of “Christians on steroids,” whose beliefs in miracles, literal readings of the Bible, and apocalyptic patriotism make traditional evangelicals like James Dobson and Pat Robertson seem almost mainstream. Although the media cannot hear the regular dog whistle of Christian buzzwords Palin uses to rally her base, it’s plainly there.
To Sarah Palin’s millions of devoted followers, religion is everything; to her detractors, it is a puzzle. The Gospel According to Sarah brilliantly deciphers this new breed of religious conservative. -
Brown Is the New White
How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority$18.99 – $25.95The New York Times and Washington Post bestseller that sparked a national conversation about America’s new progressive, multiracial majority, updated to include data from the 2016 election
With a new preface and afterword by the authorWhen it first appeared in the lead-up to the 2016 election, Brown Is the New White helped spark a national discussion of race and electoral politics and the often-misdirected spending priorities of the Democratic party. This “slim yet jam-packed call to action” (Booklist) contained a “detailed, data-driven illustration of the rapidly increasing number of racial minorities in America” (NBC News) and their significance in shaping our political future.
Completely revised and updated to address the aftermath of the 2016 election, this first paperback edition of Brown Is the New White doubles down on its original insights. Attacking the “myth of the white swing voter” head-on, Steve Phillips, named one of “America’s Top 50 Influencers” by Campaigns & Elections, closely examines 2016 election results against a long backdrop of shifts in the electoral map over the past generation—arguing that, now more than ever, hope for a more progressive political future lies not with increased advertising to middle-of-the-road white voters, but with cultivating America’s growing, diverse majority.
Emerging as a respected and clear-headed commentator on American politics at a time of pessimism and confusion among Democrats, Phillips offers a stirring answer to anyone who thinks the immediate future holds nothing but Trump and Republican majorities.
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Reclaiming Gotham
Bill de Blasio and the Movement to End Americas Tale of Two Cities$26.95How Bill de Blasio’s mayoral victory triggered a seismic shift in the nation’s urban political landscape—and what it portends for our cities in the future
In November 2013, a little-known progressive stunned the elite of New York City by capturing the mayoralty by a landslide. Bill de Blasio’s promise to end the “Tale of Two Cities” had struck a chord among ordinary residents still struggling to recover from the Great Recession.De Blasio’s election heralded the advent of the most progressive New York City government in generations. Not since the legendary Fiorello La Guardia in the 1930s had so many populist candidates captured government office at the same time. Gotham, in other words, had been suddenly reclaimed in the name of its people.
How did this happen? De Blasio’s victory, journalist legend Juan González argues, was not just a routine change of government but a popular rebellion against corporate-friendly policies that had dominated New York for decades. Reflecting that broader change, liberal Democrats Bill Peduto in Pittsburgh, Betsy Hodges in Minneapolis, and Martin Walsh of Boston also won mayoral elections that same year, as did insurgent Ras Baraka in Newark the following year. This new generation of municipal leaders offers valuable lessons for those seeking grassroots reform.
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How Do I Explain This to My Kids?
Parenting in the Age of Trump$15.95The day after the 2016 presidential election, filmmaker Carlos Sandoval found Ku Klux Klan fliers on the seats of the Long Island Railroad and recounts how his Cuban American niece Lexi’s world was “shattered” by the election—she is one of thousands of children wondering if they will be deported or denied benefits under the Trump administration. Other children are taunted on the playground, have their head scarves ripped off, or are left to wonder, “Does Donald Trump not like brown boys like me?” And girls everywhere are devastated that a crass and bigoted bully was elected over the woman poised to become America’s first female president.
In the wake of the election, even the most thoughtful and progressive parents across the country found themselves at a loss for words. Borrowing its title from the memorable election night question posed by Van Jones, How Do I Explain This to My Kids? brings together moving first-person accounts by parents including novelist Mira Jacob, Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, scholar Robin D.G. Kelley, New York Times blogger Nicole Chung, and others, who recount their best efforts to parent effectively in the current climate. The second half of the book features advice from leading child psychologist Ava Siegler, whose bestselling book What Should I Tell the Kids? established her as an authority on talking to children about difficult topics. From racism and homophobia to anti-Semitism, lying, sexism, and bullying, Dr. Siegler provides concrete advice for parents of kids of all ages—grade schoolers, preteens, adolescents, and young adults—for helping their children navigate a complicated, difficult time.
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The Least Among Us
Waging the Battle for the Vulnerable$25.95The outspoken Connecticut congresswoman provides “a powerful case for protecting and expanding America’s safety net” (Elizabeth Warren).
Cynical politicians like Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump argue that the people of the United States would be better off without food stamps, Obamacare, and workplace protections. Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro knows these folks are just plain wrong.
Growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, DeLauro saw firsthand how vulnerable hard-working people are in the face of corporate indifference and government neglect. From fatal industrial fires to devastating childhood poverty, DeLauro witnessed it all—and emerged convinced that social programs are worth going to the mat for, again and again. Worker protections, Social Security, unemployment insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and housing assistance lift up all Americans; they fulfill this country’s promise of opportunity for everyone and are essential for our country’s health.
For twenty-five years, DeLauro has been fighting for everyday Americans, earning a reputation as the most impassioned defender of our social safety net. The Least Among Us tells the story of a quarter-century of deal-making on behalf of people too often overlooked, told by a woman as fearless as she is opinionated. Part House of Cards, part progressive manifesto, The Least Among Us shares lessons about power—how it’s gained and how to wield it for everyone’s benefit.
“Can you imagine how cool the world would be if we had Rosa DeLauro getting s*** done instead of Congress being held hostage by terrible people!” —Wonkette
“An impassioned, urgent defense of democratic values and the role of government to serve and benefit all citizens.” —Kirkus Reviews
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